The Washington Post reported today that nine days before President Donald Trump's inauguration Erik Prince Blackwater founder and a Russian (whose name remains undisclosed) who is said to be close to Vladimir Putin held a secret meeting in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean. According to officials, the meeting was coordinated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and according to U.S., European and Arab officials, the meeting was set-up to establish a back-channel line of communication between President Donald Trump and Moscow.
The Blackwater founder was said to have no formal role in Donald Trump's campaign and presented himself as an unofficial envoy for President-elect Trump.
The UAE agreed to coordinate for both the Russians and the U.S.; however, the full details of the agenda remain unknown. What is known is that the meeting was arranged partly to explore if Moscow might loosen its relationship with Iran and Syria. One of the President's objectives that would ask too much of Moscow with regard to U.S. sanctions.
FBI looking into Seychelles meeting
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has been looking into the meeting in the Seychelles as part of the wide net they have cast in trying to find out what, if any, interference Russia had in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. The FBI did not comment. The two-day meeting in the Seychelles has made the FBI's job that much harder by increasing their list of connections between American ties to Trump and Putin.
Records show Stephan K. Bannon, now serving as the president's chief strategist and senior counselor, and Blackwater founder, Prince had connections to people closest to Trump. Prince also contributed $250,000 to the Trump campaign and was a huge supporter of the President, the Republican convention, and the national party.
Records show Prince at the President's transition offices in New York in December. He was also supporting a pro-Trump super PAC led by Rebekah Mercer, GOP mega-donor. Prince's connections don't end there – the education secretary serving under the Trump administration, Betsy DeVos – is his sister.
White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said Erik Prince had no role in the transition and that the Trump administration is not aware of any meeting held in the Seychelles. Spicer insisted that all of this is a fabrication, nd that the FBI should be out hunting terrorists.
